Liz and one of the local volunteers, Amy, were in the corner of the banquet hall going over the schedule one final time. The place was starting to fill up in support of the victims.
“Okay, I think – ” Liz cut off when Amy grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard. She looked over at Amy who stood there with a shocked look on her face. “What’s going on?” Amy never took her attention from the door, but Liz couldn’t see what she was looking at through the crowd.
“Oh – my – gosh, JC Chasez just walked in here! What is he doing here?” Her fingernails were digging painfully into Liz’s wrist now.
“What are you talking about?” All of a sudden, the crowd parted and there was JC striding directly toward them, his eyes on her and only on her.
“He’s coming over here, what do we do?” Amy’s eyes widened with each step JC took closer to them, but Liz never noticed.
Liz could feel a huge smile overtaking her face as the weight she felt on her shoulders lessened with his presence. She knew his schedule was extremely busy right now before the holidays and yet when she called, he dropped everything and came.
JC rounded the table that Liz and Amy were standing behind and placed his hand on Liz’s waist as she grasped the firmness of his bicep.
“Hi,” he whispered just before he dipped his head. The world disappeared around them, while Amy kept a hold of Liz’s wrist.
When JC pulled back a fraction, Liz opened her eyes and looked into his smiling, blue ones. “Hi yourself, what are you doing here?”
“You called and I thought I would surprise you.”
She lifted on her toes to reach his lips again for another quick kiss. “You certainly accomplished that, I didn’t mean to pull you away from anything.” Slowly, the room came back into focus and Liz once again became aware that Amy was tightly gripping her wrist. She shot a quick glance to her left, causing JC to do the same.
“JC, this is Amy, one of the local volunteers who has been a tremendous help. And I’m pretty sure she’s a fan of yours.” Liz tried unsuccessfully to pull away from Amy’s grip and JC noticed her wince as Amy’s nails dug in harder.
JC kept one hand on Liz’s waist and stretched his free hand out to pull Amy away. All Amy could do was stare as JC pulled her hand away from Liz and into his own strong, warm grip.
“Hello Amy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Amy’s mouth opened and closed before she squeaked out, “You too.”
Free now, Liz slid smoothly into JC’s open arms for one of his comforting hugs. As stressed as she had been, the heat that JC’s body emitted surrounded her and melted her tenseness away. “I’m so glad to see you,” Liz whispered into his ear.
“You sounded so down last night that I had to come make sure you were doing okay.” The breath from his words stirred the air around her ear.
Liz pulled away slightly, conscious of the others in the room, staring. “I’m much better now.”
JC took a moment to look around the room as people quickly averted their eyes. “Is there a place where I can sit out of the way?”
“See that table in the far back corner?” Liz gestured with her head as JC nodded. “That’s where I’ll be sitting here shortly.”
“Okay, I’m going to find the facilities real quick then you’ll know where to find me.” Before he walked off, he pressed one more kiss on her lips then sauntered through the crowd.
JC wasn’t even 10 feet away before Amy was digging for the scoop. “Why didn’t you tell me you were dating JC Chasez? So that means that every time you were talking about your boyfriend, you were talking about him?”
Liz watched him sign a couple of autographs and pose for some pictures as he tried to make his way through the large room. “To me, he’s just Josh – JC. He’s not the international sensation. He’s just an amazingly wonderful man.” She paused as the opening speaker was announced. “I’ll have to tell you how we met sometime, but for now we had better take our seats and raise some money.”
Amy watched enviously as Liz walked toward her table where JC was sitting. Some people had all the luck.
***
The pleasant evening was winding down and plenty of money had been raised to help the victims. The local band was good; they had JC bobbing his head and tapping his toe as they performed. Liz had been up and down all evening, making sure everything was running smoothly. At the current moment, she was out thanking the caterers and making sure they had everything they needed.
The lead vocalist had spoken to JC earlier, the common bond of music paving the way, but JC had no idea what the vocalist was planning.
Matt, the vocalist, took a sip of water and wiped a towel over his brow before he raised the microphone up to his lips once more. “Tonight, we have a special surprise guest in the audience – Mr. JC Chasez.” A loud applause echoed through the room and had Liz glancing back at the hall entrance behind her.
After the applause had died down, Matt continued, “I was hoping JC could come up here and perhaps help us sing our next song.” Screams were now added to the applause.
JC tried to hide his dismay. Why couldn’t he be allowed to enjoy one evening out without someone wanting something from him? Slowly, he stood and made his way to the stage, taking the microphone he was offered.
Waving a hand, he tried to quiet the audience. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liz slip back in and inspiration struck. “Good evening, thank you for that wonderful welcome. I have really enjoyed being here with you tonight.” He had to pause again for the screams. “But I don’t want us to forget the reason that we are here – to help the victims of the flood that has ravaged the area. I don’t know if everyone here knows my connection to this event. You see, my beautiful girlfriend, who is actually hiding in the back, helped plan this event tonight.”
Liz had a deer in the headlights look as the entire room turned to look at her and applaud. She tried to slide out the door, but didn’t get far. JC jumped off the stage and jogged over to her, smiling.
“What are you doing?” She hissed under her breath as JC led her back to the stage.
“Just relax and trust me.”
“There are not many people out there that know the real story…a flood is actually the reason that Liz and I met. You see, Liz was working near my home about 6 months ago. When on a Tuesday night…” JC looked over to see Liz’s nod, her face still bright red.
“On a Tuesday night that I was just home minding my own business, my phone rang. Now, I don’t usually answer phone calls from numbers that I don’t recognize, but for some reason I answered this call…and there is this woman on the other end asking for Josh. All I can think is ‘oh great - who is this and does she really think she can get close to me by using Josh?’ This is when I would normally hang up the phone, but something stopped me, so I told her that I was Josh.” He shook his head with a large smile on his face.
“And the woman launches into this whole spiel about how sorry she is that I’m going through this hard time and that we need to set up an appointment for her to inspect the damage. Keep in mind I have no idea what’s she’s talking about. I’m thinking this is the weirdest setup to meet me that I’ve ever heard.”
He threw his head back and laughed at Liz’s whispered comment next to him. “Liz just told me that I have a big ego!” The whole crowd joined in to laugh at JC’s expense. “Anyway,” he tried to continue though he was still chuckling. “Anyway, I finally figured out that it wasn’t a ploy to meet me, she just had a wrong number. So we hung up and that was that. I put the whole thing out of my mind. But a couple of days later, my phone rings again. It’s the same woman still looking for the other Josh. So once I told her she still had the wrong number, we chatted a little bit before she promised to change her file.”
“Then a day or so later…” His voice was teasing as the crowd in the audience started murmuring, so JC hurried to explain. “I know what you’re thinking – that this woman needs to get a clue.” Liz rolled her eyes and shook her head, beginning to get comfortable on stage now. “But sadly no, this time I was the one. I was frustrated after leaving a meeting so I got in my car and went to my recent calls to call my sister, but I didn’t dial my sister, I called Liz. I didn’t even let her say hello before I was starting in on my rant. Imagine my surprise when I hear laughter on the other end that is not my sister. We talked that day for hours and that was the day that I realized that I liked having someone I could talk to about anything and know that she wasn’t after me for my name or my money.”
“We never even talked about meeting,” Liz said loud enough for the people closest to hear her.
“No, we never talked about meeting. We just kept talking and texting every day, all day long. But God had other plans for us. There is a coffee shop that I go to frequently and I stopped in one morning for a cup of coffee and a quiet place to read the paper. A woman was in my favorite spot so I sat close by, not really paying attention until her phone rang and she laughed. Let me tell you my heart literally stopped right then.
I’d like to tell you that I was suave enough to go introduce myself right then and there, but I’m not. I couldn’t believe how stupid I was to let her walk out of my life, but we continued our phone calls and texts until one day, I got her tickets to a concert and we met for the first time.” He turned to look at the woman standing next to him.
“I found that I couldn’t let her go, I had fallen in love with this beautiful, talented, caring, loving woman standing next to me right now. And I’m blessed enough that she feels the same way.” The microphone fell to his side before he placed it on a nearby music stand. The rest of the room faded away until it was just the two of them standing underneath the bright stage lights.
JC gathered Liz’s hands in his as his voice lowered intimately. “The day you came into my life was the best day of my life and to have you return the love that I have for you is – there are no words and you know that I am rarely without words. I was planning on waiting for Christmas to do this, but I think now is the right time.”
Keeping her hands in his, JC knelt on one knee as the other people in the room gasped out sounds of excitement. The two under the lights never heard a thing. “Liz, I love you more than words and I would do anything for you. Will you do me the greatest honor and become my wife?”
Her eyes brightly shining with joy and love, Liz sank to her knees so she could look JC in the eyes. “Yes, I would love to become your wife.”
The crowd erupted as JC dug into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. Setting the box on the floor, he opened it with one hand and lifted out the engagement ring for his fiancée. Liz held out her hand for him to slip it on her finger and he placed a kiss on her ring finger before sealing their love with a kiss that brought everyone to a standing ovation.
Liz licked her lips when they finally parted with a becoming blush on her cheek. JC stood first before helping Liz to her feet. He waved to everyone trying to get them to quiet down as he grabbed the microphone he had just put down.
“Thank you, that was completely spur of the moment so if you will excuse us, I want to celebrate with my new fiancée. Have a nice evening.”
Together the newly engaged couple rushed off the stage and grabbed their coats and other belongings before moving to the entry. Amy followed close behind, not letting them escape just yet.
“Liz,” Amy called as they threw on their coats. JC and Liz looked up as Amy came toward them arms outstretched. Grinning wildly, Liz squealed as she hugged Amy. “Congratulations you two, I’m so happy for you!”
“Thank you, I had no idea,” Liz pulled back and glanced over her shoulder at JC. “I hate to ask this, but can you make sure everything gets finished tonight? Normally, I would stay, but I think these are some pretty extraordinary circumstances.”
“Absolutely, you go celebrate, I’ve loved working with you and wish you all the happiness in the world. Stay in touch.”
Liz gave Amy one final hug before she turned and linked her arm through JC’s. They turned toward the door, but JC remembered something else that was in his pocket. He dug out a small item and leaned back to hand it to Amy. “I know this will be put to good use – anonymously, of course.”
Unfolding the check JC handed her, Amy was left speechless. Her eyes widened as she tried to find the words to express her gratitude. JC merely gave her a smile and a wink, then walked out the door.
***
The fogged car windows blocked the view of the couple in Liz’s rental car. JC cursed the console in the car as it kept the two separated in their bucket seats. Breathing heavily, Liz pulled slightly away trying to remember where they were.
“Jace – we – we, ohhhh…we need to leave before everyone comes out and sees us.” She halfheartedly pushed at his shoulder, not sure how much time had passed, but knowing that the evening would be over soon and people would be heading to their cars.
His chest heaving, JC tried desperately to get enough oxygen in his lungs so he could drive as he fell back into his seat. He rolled his head so he could study Liz. Her lips were swollen and he could still taste her lip gloss. She looked back at him, his eyes were a deep blue that sparkled as he tried to breathe.
Shaking his head, he twisted the key in the ignition and the car purred to life. “I forget where I am when I’m with you.” She reached out a hand to place on his knee and gently rub.
“I love you, Josh.”
“I know,” he replied confidently as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I love you too.”
“Let’s talk about a date,” JC said once he had accelerated onto the interstate. “I’m thinking the sooner the better, actually.”
“It takes time to plan a wedding you know.” Liz tried to mentally calculate what all needed to be done and how much time everything would take. Their eyes met quickly before JC turned his attention back to the road.
“Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?” Liz asked.
“I’m thinking the same thing you’re thinking.”
In unison, they voiced the others thought. “Let’s elope.”
